June 16, 2011

Music City Bowl

The Wiz of Odds is conducting a comprehensive study of bowl game expense reports. All of the data collected — expense reports for 56 teams and bowl surveys for 40 teams — are being posted on the site. Here is the latest installment. For an overview of the project, click here.

The Music City Bowl is owned and operated by the Nashville Sports Council, a private 501(c) nonprofit. The inaugural game was played in 1998.

2010 participants: North Carolina and Tennessee.

North Carolina expenses: The school reported 1,465 absorbed tickets at a cost of $93,260. Administrative costs were listed at $297,923. The team also reported an expenditure of $3,072, which covered the cost of laundry services (at bowl site — $1,811) and rental of hydraulic lifts to film practice ($1,261). Download North Carolina Expenses

Survey: The school did not provide The Wiz of Odds with a bowl survey.

Tennessee expenses: The school listed 1,927 absorbed tickets at a cost of $115,780. In addition to the form returned to the NCAA, Tennessee provided a more detailed breakdown of expenses to The Wiz of Odds. Those expenses are listed on page three of the pdf.

On that page, total costs were listed at $816,221. Included in the expanded breakdown were items such as player bowl gifts ($42,550), bowl media guides ($15,312) and practice officials ($945). Download Tennessee Expenses

Survey: Athletic director Mike Hamilton gave the bowl a "dissatisfied" rating when asked if bowl policies were clearly communicated.

"The only real issue we had with the bowl was the management from the Sports Information Side [sic]," Hamilton wrote. "The postgame media setup was not very well managed. We had communicate [sic] our needs and our issues, and they were seemingly ignored. Media management could be better with this bowl."

He also expressed frustration with VIP courtesy transportation.

"The biggest issue we had was with the logistics of the hotel and their valet parking," he wrote. "If you were not traveling with the team on buses, it was nearly impossible to get onto or out of the hotel property. With 1,800 rooms, two football teams and a cheerleading competition going, the hotel was hectic and neither team felt like they were the priority.

"Cheerleaders became the focal point. When it takes nearly 40 minutes to get into or out of the hotel that is too long. This needs to be addressed." Download Tennessee Survey